| Past Open-Wheel, LMP2 Entrant Making Strides with Ferrari, Franco, Costa in GTD July 22, 2024By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For as iconic a brand as Ferrari is, its presence as a full-time entrant within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has been hit-or-miss for several years. Risi Competizione has more than 25 years’ experience overall but has more recently shifted to an IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup-focused schedule. Several other teams – AF Corse, Cetilar Racing and Triarsi Competizione most frequently – have joined them in that pursuit. But Ferrari has been back fully in the 2024 WeatherTech Championship campaign with a longtime sports car and open-wheel entrant of its own: Eric Bachelart’s Conquest Racing in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). Somewhat hard as it is to believe, Conquest is the first full-time Ferrari entrant in any WeatherTech Championship class since Scuderia Corsa ran the 2020 GTD season with a 488 GT3. Bachelart’s Conquest team is back in the top level of IMSA for the first time since it fielded a Morgan Nissan Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class entry in the 2012 American Le Mans Series. Bachelart, whose own team has raced multiple series over a couple decades, has fielded one of the pleasant surprises of the season with a pair of WeatherTech Championship rookies in Manny Franco and Albert Costa Balboa. Through the first six races of the season, the drivers of the No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 are fourth in GTD points with a pair of podium finishes – third at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and a season-best second at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. “The series has grown a lot and it’s definitely way more competitive than it was back then,” Bachelart reflected. Franco has grown with Ferrari, Conquest and Bachelart through the team’s Ferrari Challenge program and this year is paired with Costa Balboa, who gathered extensive single-seater experience and championships before shifting to sports cars, where he’s driven both LMP2 and GT3 spec cars. Though a relative late arriver to Ferrari Challenge – Franco only joined the series a few years ago – he’s developed quickly. In his first season of GT3 racing last year in another series, he won the first race in North America for the 296 GT3 at Road America. Keen to test himself against not just other GT3 drivers, teams and cars but also prototypes, Franco and Conquest Racing took the step back into the full, four-class WeatherTech Championship this season. |
| “That’s what I love about IMSA, the multiclass and the opportunities in both attacking and defending,” Franco said. “Sometimes you’re on the wrong end of it, but the attacking side can be fun. “It’s a mental overload but it’s good. GT3 racing alone has its ups and downs, but it can be a train if everyone is so similar on driver level and performance.” Costa Balboa, who was part of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning LMP2 effort with the Inter Europol Competition team, is also new to IMSA in 2024. The Spaniard blends both LMP2 and GT3 racing simultaneously and has thoroughly enjoyed his first year through the North American tracks and series. “As drivers, we have some good friends and when I told them I had an opportunity in IMSA, they said, ‘It’s one of the best championships to race as a driver,’” Costa Balboa said. “The tracks are cool and the competition is high, but it’s almost more that the atmosphere is so nice around the paddock and fans. I’m really enjoying it and I hope I get to be back next year because I’ve made so many new friends. And as work, I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m growing up as a driver.” Both Bachelart and Costa Balboa have been quick to note Franco’s development, Bachelart as a team principal and Costa Balboa as the pro driver within the GTD lineup requiring a Silver- or Bronze-rated driver. “Manny is a very gifted driver; we saw that from the first time we tested him in Ferrari Challenge,” Bachelart explained. “So he has adapted really well to GT3 right away. Obviously now it’s a matter of learning more about the series, developing the feedback and the race craft in IMSA with all the traffic involved. I think we’ve gone above expectations this year and have done a good job overall.” |
| Costa Balboa added, “This is my first time ever in a Pro-Am or GT3 class. So my career was either in a pro class or racing alone in single-seaters, and you need to change the mentality. “You’re not not going to win; but you need to adapt the car and set up the car so the Silver driver has to be as quick as he can. You work the base to him to have him as quick as he can be, and then I have to race it. It’s a nice challenge and I like it, weekend by weekend.” The next race, the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America, Aug. 2-4, is a special one for Franco and Conquest in particular. Not only is it where Franco won last year, but it’s also his home venue. “Everyone wants a home race, but being born in Wisconsin and getting to race there is a true home race,” Franco said. “The first win for the 296 is something Ferrari reps told us was a big achievement for the team and for us in GT3 competition. It’s nice to go to a track where we’re very familiar with it since most of the places we’ve gone have been so new.” Conquest is sorting its 2025 plans heading into the final quartet of 2024 races. Bachelart said the goal is to keep on improving and working and try to get back to the top three in points, where they were going into Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before finishing 11th in that race. He said that was very motivating. The No. 34 Conquest Ferrari will be part of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America with coverage Sunday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock and IMSA Radio. |
